Michael Thomas Modano, Jr.- 8 games in: 1 G 0 A and a -7, worst on the team. He was supposed to be a savior (I strongly supported his signing) and make the third line a weapon. So what’s the problem?

Some folk have said hustle. That isn’t what I’ve seen. He’s been one of the hardest backcheckers on the team and still has the wheels to get back. I’ve been very impressed with his work getting back into the zone. This isn’t it.

Turnovers? Yeah, that’s been part of the problem. Yet I don’t think that’s the basic issue here.

Just doesn’t have it anymore? He might not be the 100 point guy he used to be, but he’s still got the wheels and the talent.

So what is it? In my humble opinion, I think that its simply that Modano and Hudler just don’t work well together. No chemistry, at least not yet. These are the types of guys that need it to be successful. Cleary isn’t a chemistry guy, he’s a guy that just works hard and gets it done, but isn’t going to be making tic-tac-toe passes. Combine that with the fact that they are both new on the team and clearly not comfortable out there yet, we have the ridiculous minus numbers that we have.

So with Abby entering the equation tonight, what should be done? The Chief at A2Y doesn’t think the third should be broken up yet, but I say let’s give it a shot. It isn’t working, simply put, and we can always put it back together later.

So what about these lines? First two the same, with the following as the last two:

Modano/Abby/EavesCleary/Helm/Hudler

Nothing against Miller, as I think his PK skills have been excellent. But I think this would certainly change things up a bit. Can’t hurt to try, right?